Boeing is edging closer to launch of the 777-200X after two potential customer airlines indicated they are nearly ready to place orders. Singapore Airlines (SIA), Asia's largest 777 customer, has been pressing Boeing for improvements in its pursuit of nonstop performance from Singapore to Los Angeles. SIA has accelerated an evaluation of the -200X and the competing Airbus A340-500 with a call for final bids.
Glenn L. Graybill has become quality assurance manager of the Nylok Fastener Corp., Macomb, Mich. He was quality systems manager for the Monroe Auto Equipment Co.
Jon D. Glassman has become director of international business development for the Northrop Grumman Electronics Sensors and Systems Div. (ESSD) in Baltimore. He was deputy for military stabilization in the Balkans in the U.S. State Dept.'s Bureau of European Affairs. John C. Stuelpnagel has been appointed director and deputy for science and technology of the ESSD Science and Technology Center in Pittsburgh. He was director of research and development for ESSD in Baltimore.
RUSSIA HAS ABANDONED PLANS to employ nuclear warheads on SH-11 Galosh and SH-08 Gazelle air defense missiles in the antiballistic missile (ABM) system deployed around Moscow. Experts had warned of the potential damage to Moscow, saying the detonation of a single warhead could contaminate a 77-sq.-mi. area. Col. Gen. Vladimir Yakovlev, commander-in-chief of strategic missiles forces, said the ABM system, with conventional warheads on the Galoshs and Gazelles, is combat ready and will shortly be placed on 24-hr. alert status.
Citing cost overruns and a long schedule delay, NASA last week terminated its contract with Orbital Sciences Corp. to build the Clark spacecraft, writing off much of the $55 million the government had invested in the Earth Science Mission.
Turkish Airlines has agreed to buy two Airbus A340-300s for a total of nearly $200 million. The state-owned carrier already operates five A340s and will exercise two of the options it holds for another five. The aircraft, powered by CFM56 engines, are scheduled to be delivered in April 1999 and April 2000. The purchase comes despite threats to boycott European Union products following Turkey's failed attempts to gain EU membership last year.
John Sczepanski has been named president/CEO of the Senstar-Stellar Corp., Carp, Ontario. He was president of its U.S. subsidiary Senstar-Stellar Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif. Sczepanski has been succeeded by Bill Evenson, who was corporate vice president of Stellar Security Products Inc.
Construction of a full-scale mockup of the FF-1080-200 Freight Feeder center fuselage is nearing completion at the American Utilicraft Corporation (AUC) research and development facility in Sterling, Va. The twin-engine Freight Feeder provides 1,936 cu. ft. of cargo space designed to transport six LD3 containers plus pallets and half-sized containers. The mockup will be used to refine form-and-fit issues and check out systems, including those for freight tracking, fire detection and suppression, and automatic weight and balance, AUC President John DuPont said.
Francois Carayol has been named chief executive of Thomson Marconi Sonar. He succeeds Denis Ranque, who is now chairman/CEO of Thomson-CSF. Carayol was managing director of Thomson-CSF Naval Combat Systems Div.
The 328JET is poised to play a critical role in Fairchild Dornier's strategy to rapidly become a major player in the regional twinjet market. The company's primary goal is to impose the 32-34-seat 328JET as the successor to 30-40-seat twin turboprops. The 328JET, a derivative of the turboshaft-powered 328, is the initial step in the company's longer-term plan to establish a 30-90-seat aircraft product range. In addition, business/corporate versions are being planned.
In hopes of erasing lingering doubts about the cause of the TWA Flight 800 crash, the FBI has agreed to turn over to the National Transportation Safety Board summaries of interviews with 458 eyewitnesses to the July 1996 accident. Skepticism about the NTSB's theory--that the 747-100 crashed because Jet A vapor exploded in its center tank--has been fanned by the FBI's refusal to allow the NTSB full access to the eyewitness or the Bureau's accounts of its interviews.
Leroy Keith, formerly director of Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority, has been named technical director of the Assn. of Asia Pacific Airlines.
Ariane 5 program managers have decided to install a second attitude control system (ACS) on flight 503 in order to correct a roll torque problem that caused flight 502 to inject a dummy payload into an incorrect orbit. The next launch will be the second and final qualification mission for the heavy-lift booster.
A $375-million Japanese research spacecraft important to future Japanese commercial communications and relay satellite development is in a useless orbit following the malfunction of the LE-5A second stage of its H-2 booster. The incident marks the worst launch vehicle failure in the history of the Japanese space program.
Passengers responding to a survey conducted by the International Air Transport Assn. (IAIA) rated the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport ``best in the U.S.'' for connecting flights to destinations within North America. IATA's Airport Monitor Survey asked passengers to rank 30 airports in North America in six categories. DFW received high ratings in three other classifications--availability of connecting flights to cities outside of North America, ease of ground transportation and overall convenience for leisure travel.
EuroLOT, the new regional airline created by Polish airline LOT last year, has concluded an agreement to acquire five 48-seat ATR 42-300s and holds an option for three more. The aircraft, to be delivered starting in June, are intended to serve routes too thin for the carrier's 64-seat ATR 72s. Together, EuroLOT and LOT operate eight ATR 72s. A total of 23 ATRs are now in operation with five Central European airlines.
Recent imagery from a U.S. weather satellite may be the first that shows the still-smoldering area where a meteorite struck Earth. Satellite imagery has often provided the convincing evidence of ancient craters. Most have been worn over the eons and thus are obscure scars sometimes spotted more easily from the perspective of space. But this would be the equivalent of real-time imagery when considered on geologic time scales.
The Venezuelan air force is in the market for a new jet trainer to replace its fleet of aging T-2Ds. Contractors have been invited to submit proposals for an initial procurement of six aircraft, although the total buy is expected to involve 18-24 trainers. The British Aerospace Hawk, Aer- macchi MB. 339, Aero Vodochody L-159, Embraer AMX, MAPO-MiG MiG-AT and Romania IAR-99 are among the expected contenders. A decision is to be announced at the end of April.
Japan's National Aerospace Laboratory (NAL) is developing an aerodynamic model of a supersonic transport for drop tests. The 40-ft., 4,000-lb. unmanned and non-powered vehicle is to be dropped from altitudes of 47,000-65,000 ft. in four tests planned in 2001 and 2002. A launch vehicle and site have not been selected for the 2.6-billion-yen ($2.1-million) program, but the most likely choice is to drop the vehicle from a J-1 flying above the Woomera test station in Australia.
AN EXPERIMENTAL SATELLITE for the Teledesic low-Earth orbit Ka-band communications system was launched Feb. 25, and controllers expected to contact it late on Feb. 26. The Teledesic T1 prototype was built by Orbital Sciences, Teledesic, and Boeing, and previously was called ``Batsat'' by Orbital, without revealing its Teledesic role.
Jean-Claude Lepage has become executive vice president of France's Labinal group. He will remain executive officer of the Labinal Aero Systems Div. and chairman/CEO of Labinal affiliate Technofan.
Neal Lane has become director of the White House Office of Science and Technology, succeeding Jack Gibbons, who has retired. Lane has been director of the National Science Foundation and will be succeeded by Rita Colwell, president of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute.
